It might not be the most romantic thing to discover just before Valentine's Day.

But when a women says 'I love you' - she might just be being polite.

A third of women have told a partner that they loved them when they didn't, often because their partner had said it first and because they felt under pressure to say it back.

A fifth of men admitted to doing the same thing.

She loves you - or does she? Women admit to sometimes saying those three little words just to be polite

Others replied to a declaration of love with a not-entirely truthful declaration of their own because 'it seemed like the right thing to say', according to a survey of 1,800 couples by adult retailer Lovehoney,

Just under a sixth of those questioned (15 per cent) admitted they had said it when they hadn't really meant it during the throes of passion.

While women are more likely to say those three little words without actually being in love, men are far more likely to say 'I love you' first.

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Just five per cent of men said that they would wait for their girlfriends to say it first, whereas more than a fifth of women said they always waited for the man to declare his hand first.

While being the first to declare your love might be seen as romantic and daring, it does come with a strong element of risk and potential embarrassment.

Around half of those asked whose partners had said 'I love you' for the first time, said they hadn't said it back.

So who said it first and did they mean it? Declaring love can be romantic - or just plain embarrassing

Women were the more honest sex here, with 59 per cent of them saying they had not said it back, compared to just 41 per cent of men.

The simple reason why so many people didn’t reciprocate is because they weren’t in love with their partner - chosen by 74 per cent of women and 62 per cent of men.

However this might be seen as more understandable when revealed that a lot of people are pretty quick to lay their cards on the table - or their heart at someone's feet.

More than half of those polled (59 per cent) have said 'I love you' to new partner within a month of dating.

Astonishingly, or even alarmingly, three per cent confessed to saying 'I love you' on the very first date and 13 per cent taking the plunge on the first week.

Four out of ten couples say 'I love you' several times a day when in a settled relationship

However once the relationship becomes more stable, couples are much happier declaring their love to each other. Around four out of ten couples say 'I love you' several times a day when they are in a settled relationship.

Just over a third do it (36 per cent) once a day and 14 per cent do it several times a week.

Twice as many men as women said they felt it was 'very important' to hear their partner say that they love them.

Around half those polled felt that people who often say 'I love you' are not expressing genuine feelings by saying it.

A similar number aid there was a lot of fuss about the phrase and they prefer to be more restrained about the feelings.

A Lovehoney spokesman said: 'These new findings show that men are more comfortable taking the lead when it comes to saying ‘I love you.’

'But men are much more careful and are less prepared to say it when it is not felt.'